logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
14m 15s

A Quicksilver Cassandra - Unpleasant Dre...

Cassandra Harold with Jim Harold Media
About this episode
This week on Unpleasant Dreams, Cassandra Harold takes us on a journey through the whimsical and thought-provoking short story, "A Quicksilver Cassandra" by John Kendrick Bangs. Known for his wit and satire, Bangs weaves a tale that blends fantasy with a touch of the absurd, much like the prophetess Cassandra (not our Cassandra!) herself—gifted with the powe ... Show More
Up next
Dec 22
A Christmas Carol - Unpleasant Dreams 85
As the holidays return, so does one of our favorite traditions—Cassandra Harold’s evocative reading of A Christmas Carol. Dickens’ ghostly tale of reckoning, regret, and redemption takes on a particularly eerie tone in this retelling. A familiar story, re-aired for the season, an ... Show More
3h 19m
Jun 2025
The Room in the Tower - Unpleasant Dreams 84
After a brief hiatus, Unpleasant Dreams returns with a chilling classic from the early 20th century. This week, Cassandra Harold narrates E.F. Benson’s “The Room in the Tower,” a haunting tale first published in 1912 that explores the terrifying power of dreams—and what happens w ... Show More
34m 4s
May 2025
A Midnight Visitor - Unpleasant Dreams 83
This week we revisit "A Midnight Visitor" by John Kendrick Bangs . One night, a stressed and overworked man is overcome with fear after a ghostly encounter in his home. Bangs was an American author and the creator of the Bangsian fantasy genre, where the use of the afterlife is t ... Show More
36m 49s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2025
How Romantasy Seduces Its Readers
<p>A few years back, novels classed as “romantasy”—a portmanteau of “romance” and “fantasy”—might have seemed destined to attract only niche appeal. But since the pandemic, the genre has proved nothing short of a phenomenon. Sarah J. Maas’s “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series re ... Show More
49m 37s
Jan 2025
The Elusive Promise of the First Person
<p>The first person is a narrative style as old as storytelling itself—one that, at its best, allows us to experience the world through another person’s eyes. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz trace how the technique has bee ... Show More
45m 48s
May 2024
"Notre Dame de Paris" • Victor HUGO
NOUVEAU - Abonnez-vous à Minuit+ pour profiter de milliers d’histoires vraies sans publicité, d’épisodes en avant-première et en intégralité. Vous aurez accès sans publicité à des dizaines de programmes passionnants comme Crimes - Histoires Vraies, Espions - Histoires Vraies, Par ... Show More
5m 43s
Dec 2022
A secret history of Jesse James with Daniel Duke
Guest; Daniel Duke is the great-great-grandchildren of Jesse James. He grew up surrounded by stories of lost outlaw treasures. For more than two decades he has been researching the mysteries involving his connection with family, Freemasonry, the Knights Templar, and the secrets o ... Show More
58m 3s
Jul 2017
107. Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland (Authors) – The Garden of Forking Paths
Since 2008, Big Think has been sharing big ideas from creative and curious minds. Since 2015, the Think Again podcast has been taking us out of our comfort zone, surprising our guests and Jason Gots, your host, with unexpected conversation starters from Big Think’s interview arch ... Show More
39m 22s
Aug 2022
Mentors: Dynamic Duos
In the first of a two-part episode on mentors in fantasy genres, we look at the roles of superheroes and their protégées. Matt Fraction talks about the inspiration for his acclaimed comic book series Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon, which was adapted into a Disney+ series. Universit ... Show More
29m 50s
Jun 2025
‘Materialists,’ “It’s Not Clocking to You That I’m Standing on Business,” and ‘American Love Story’ Styling Disaster | We’re Obsessed
We’re obsessed with ‘Materialists’ this week! Jodi and Nora first talk through some smaller stories that took the internet by storm, including Pedro Pascal’s uncanny look-alike, who also happens to be the lighting designer for ‘The Daily Show’ (2:45); Justin Bieber changing the w ... Show More
1h 39m
Jun 2024
The Portable Star by Isaac Asimov - Isaac Asimov Short Story
<p><em>Holden made love to his friends wife. Because he couldn’t help it. The Portable Star by Isaac Asimov</em>, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.</p><br><p>There will come a time when we will run out of stories in the public domain to share with you that were written by I ... Show More
40m 18s
Jan 2021
Camelot Forever
The myth of Camelot runs deep in our culture. For over a thousand years, storytellers have felt compelled to tell the tale of King Arthur and add their own spin on the mythical legend. But we live in pretty cynical times where the idea of a wise and noble king feels like just as ... Show More
30m 30s
Oct 2025
Megha Majumdar: "A Guardian and a Thief" | Oprah's Book Club
In this episode of Oprah’s Book Club: Presented by Starbucks, Oprah and Megha Majumdar discuss her magnificent new book, A Guardian and a Thief, a 2025 National Book Awards finalist and Oprah’s 119th Book Club selection. This exquisitely written novel packs an epic story into jus ... Show More
55m 8s